Alarion’s features took on a serious expression as he studied ZEKE’s robotic visage. Then, seemingly satisfied with what he found there, the youth lifted his shoulders in a shrug.
And lunged.
“Ferocious.” ZEKE said in a cool monotone as he slipped the shoulder tackle with contemptuous ease. Just as quickly, his left leg darted out in a low kick that broke Alarion’s footing with barely a tap to the side of his knee. “And clumsy.”
Undeterred, Alarion came up swinging with a wild right hook that struck nothing but air. The two follow-up blows of his would-be combination existed only in his mind as a push kick, this time to his thigh, sent him sprawling to the ground once again.
“Sloppy.” The robot added as it took a half-step back to avoid Alarion’s attempt to grab its ankle. “When you are ready.”
Thrice more the situation repeated itself. Each fumbling attack dispersed by a sweep or a push so weakly delivered that only the fall resulted in damage notifications.
“How?” Alarion asked as he collected himself from yet another tumble.
“You were correct. You are a terrible fighter.” ZEKE explained nonchalantly.
Alarion locked eyes with the machine, his own face nearly as expressionless.
“Your balance is atrocious, your footwork is awful, your attacks are heavily telegraphed and leave you vulnerable to innumerable counter-attacks. You over-commit, focus in on your target point to the exclusion of-”
“Okay. I get it.” Alarion scowled at last. “I’ve won fights before, though.”
“Against an Awakened?” ZEKE inquired.
Alarion crossed his arms and stroked his chin as he considered the question. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“There you have it.” ZEKE explained. “An Awakened fighting an unawakened is like an adult abusing a child.”
Alarion met ZEKE’s gaze, pointedly.
“This is training.” The Steelborn emphasized as it waved off the child’s scandalous accusation. “An Awakened child against an unawakened adult is a much closer match, however. Your unrestrained aggression almost certainly carried you through such encounters.”
“Isn’t that why I’m losing now?” Alarion asked.
“Yes, but that does not make it an unassailable weakness.” ZEKE reassured him. “Your sheer capacity for violence is outstanding, it simply needs to be tempered. I have trained hundreds during my tenure with the House of Hunger, and not one of them attacked without further provocation. Meanwhile you did not hesitate to throw everything you had at me, a relative stranger, from the moment you were given the opport-”
ZEKE’s thought process was interrupted as Alarion led his renewed assault with two quick jabs which forced the machine to backpedal away from the first and uncross its arms to swat away the second. It was quick to riposte with a shove that pushed the boy off balance and a quick backhand to punish his aggression.
The boy took the unexpected blow head on, but powered through it with a clenched jaw all the same. The machine didn’t actually want to hurt him, which gave Alarion the advantage as he stepped in for a vicious uppercut.
And was promptly knocked on his ass.
You have suffered moderate bludgeoning damage. HP -14.
Alarion barely even understood the counter. He’d advanced on ZEKE, but rather than pivot or withdraw, ZEKE had simply advanced on his own. The machine had stepped past Alarion, set his feet and slammed his back against Alarion’s with enough force to send the boy sprawling.
“Predictable.” The machine said, as Alarion struggled to regain his wits.
“That… that hurt!” Alarion snarled as he came up swinging. His blows were wild, animalistic, half open handed strikes that were as much scratches as they were punches. Not one landed, but the sheer volume and speed of the attacks drove ZEKE back several steps before he was able to disrupt the rhythm.
“Inelegant.” ZEKE pronounced as his open palm first struck Alarion’s elbow to deflect an incoming attack, then drove into his shoulder as the Steelborn slid beneath Alarion’s opposite arm, hooked his ankle and slammed him down hard into the stone floor. “Uncouth, even!”
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You have suffered moderate bludgeoning damage. HP -22.
You have been stunned for two seconds.
“I suspect that hurt even more. But let me be clear, child. This is not a life or death struggle, this is a training session.” ZEKE’s once jovial voice was icy as it loomed over him. “You can come at me in anger if that helps you, though I do not recommend it. But if you come at me with killing intent again, I will put you down far less gently next time. Do you understand?”
On the ground, Alarion met the machine man’s eyes and gave a slight nod. “Mm.”
“Splendid.” ZEKE replied with a delighted tone. “Up you go. We are far from finished.”
----------------------------------------
“Slow.” ZEKE chided as he danced away from the boy’s roundhouse kick, then rushed in to close the gap. Alarion was already retreating, his arms held high to ward off the inevitable counter blow. One swift blow to the body reminded Alarion that his face was not his only vulnerability, but ZEKE’s second lesson was cut short as Alarion retaliated with an overhand of his own.
It missed, of course, but it was close. Much, much closer than any of those fumbling attacks the youth had been throwing only hours earlier.
They had practiced through the afternoon and well into the evening. Three times the healer had come to tend to the wounds that Alarion had accrued, their repeated bouts otherwise broken only when Alarion’s stamina dwindled to the point he could no longer stand.
Alarion was stubborn. ZEKE had given him numerous opportunities to stop, starting in the late afternoon. There were myriad facets to his training regime beyond simple combat practice. Academic lessons, weapon selection and theory, rote drills and so much more.
“Impractical.” The machine scoffed as Alarion missed entirely with a wild haymaker.
But the boy wanted to hit him. Some part of him needed to strike a telling blow, despite the gulf of difference in skill, experience and physical ability.
So they fought, clashing over and over again.
“Rudimentary.” ZEKE scolded as what had been a promising series of thrown punches gave way to frustration, opening up an old weakness that the machine ruthlessly exploited by way of an outside leg kick that buckled Alarion’s knee. “You-”
The Steelborn’s rebuke caught in its voice box as Alarion’s sacrificial feint made itself clear. Though he’d improved steadily over the hours, his root as ZEKE called it was a consistent problem. Alarion’s stance was often too wide, his center of gravity poor, and the machine mercilessly exploited that weakness.
To the point that Alarion could count on it doing so.
Alarion rolled with the kick, turning with the momentum of his own fall. Knowing that it was coming allowed him to brace on his back leg, and spring back with explosive force, his right hand open in a clawing swing. His fingertips scraped metal though only just barely. Not enough to leave a mark, or inflict even a single point of damage. But enough to be felt, if that metal skin felt anything at all.
“Adequate.”
Almost as uplifting as the ‘compliment’ was the way that ZEKE had been forced to avoid the attack. A desperate dodge backward, his stance too wide, his center of gravity poor. Alarion could not return the favor with a kick of his own, but he had ample time to move forward and to his left, neatly dodging the open palmed retaliation intended to send him sprawling.
A dodge that put him back to back with ZEKE. Which had been the goal all along.
“Raagh!” Alarion shouted as he imitated ZEKE’s move from hours earlier, throwing his body back against the Steelborn instructor.
Who moved all of a few inches.
“Disappointing.” ZEKE said with a resigned note.
“I hit you!” Alarion protested, wheeling on the machine. “Twice!”
“Since when was that the point of this exercise?” ZEKE asked as he turned to face the young man.
“Since…” Alarion replied, trailing off as ZEKE’s point became clear.
“Our goal today was an introduction, nothing more. It was to show a few fundamental flaws in your fighting style, or lack thereof, to instill humility. To let you experience overwhelming power and your own weaknesses in a safe, practical environment as opposed to a life or death situation.” ZEKE explained. “Kicks and shoves to put you off balance. Unusual strikes like the body check to show your vulnerability to off angle attacks.”
“Insults to frustrate and provoke me?”
“Perish the thought.” ZEKE replied. “Though your greatest weakness is an inability to judge your own strengths and weaknesses, and those of your opponents. You are a foot shorter and weigh less than half of what I do. You do not have particularly high strength attribute. In what world were you going to have any impact with a technique you’d never used against a much larger, stronger and more resilient opponent.”
“So the point was to show me what it is like to lose?” Alarion complained somewhat bitterly. “Even if I hit you, I wasn’t going to do damage.”
ZEKE looked at him sternly. “Did you consider using a weapon?”
“I-” Alarion began, before looking around the courtyard. The weapon and armor racks were still there. They’d been there for hours, waiting to be used. Had he only thought to ask. “But you didn’t say-”
“Just like you incorrectly assumed the point of the exercise.” ZEKE pointed out. “But fear not. This training was still a success.”
Alarion looked at him, expectantly.
“We have found one of your fundamental flaws.” ZEKE explained, clearly irked at not being asked to expound. “I already had my suspicion given that you somehow managed to accept not one but two classes without being aware of having done so, but your behavior confirms my suspicions. You, Master Alarion, are Single-Minded. Very much to a fault.”
You have recognized your flaw!
> Single-minded
>
> Description: A level of bull headed stubbornness usually reserved for monsters. Or bulls.
> Requirements: None.
> Type: Flaw, Passive.
> Severity: Minor
>
> Effect: +10% XP gain to a chosen class or skill for 24 hours. -20% XP gain to all other XP gain during the same period.
>
> Note: A class or skill must be chosen during each 24 hour period. If one is not willingly selected it will instead be chosen by the user’s subconscious desires.
>
> Additional Note: Available class or skill options will sometimes be selected without the user’s consent if they coincide with the user’s subconscious desires.